Would you be more likely to buy new gear out of state if there was no sales tax

There's no violation of any laws.

Yes there is.  For example, according to this reference provided by the State of Pennsylvania's Department of Revenue, "all states that impose sales tax also impose use tax," use tax being applicable to purchases of items or services that would be subject to sales tax in the purchaser's home state but for which sales tax is not collected by the seller.  In many states purchases subject to use tax must be declared on the purchaser's state income tax return each year, and the use tax must be paid in conjunction with that return.

Regards,
-- Al
 

I could not find anything saying it is our responsibility to total up our purchases and somehow pay at tax time.

Bill, Google "sales and use tax" (with the quotes) plus the name of your state. That will lead you to an informational pdf on the subject issued by your state tax authority.

We buy stuff on Amazon etc...with no tax, but must keep track of all these purchases and somehow pay the tax to state we reside in.

BTW, as you are probably aware most of the major online retailers make it very easy to print out a summary of purchases one has made from them during the course of a calendar year. Under My Account/Order History or some such link.

Best regards,
-- Al

Bill (Grannyring), you have not misunderstood what has been said. If your state charges sales tax for in-state purchases, its residents are almost certainly also liable for use tax on out-of-state purchases of items and services that would be subject to the tax if purchased in-state. See the second page of the link I provided earlier. As rcprince mentioned, however, enforcement of those laws by the states is certainly problematical for them.

In the case of Amazon specifically, their presence in many states requires them to collect sales tax for sales to residents of those states (consistent with Dave’s comment above). And I believe that the huge scale of their operations has prompted some states to try (successfully in some cases) to get them to collect sales taxes in some states they don’t have a presence in.

I have no knowledge of Turbo Tax, as I don’t use it or anything similar, but in my state (Connecticut) the income tax form includes a line item and an associated worksheet for computation and reporting of the use tax that is due. If one knowingly makes a false entry on that line, perhaps such as zero, one is signing a fraudulent return.

Also, the state has in the past published online the names of particularly notorious use tax scofflaws it has identified and pursued.

Best regards,
-- Al